Well, on Thursday 09.12.10 we finally made it to the supermarket for some much needed shopping. It was the first time we had been out in 2 weeks. What a relief. I never thought I would ever be so pleased to go food shopping.

Since then the thaw has started, though it is still pretty cold at night, and last night we had freezing fog, but at least things are moving in the right direction at last.

A few lessons have been learnt from the experience of the last 2 weeks, namely:

Don’t ignore the weather forecast.

Keep the cupboard well stocked in winter, no matter what.

Don’t walk on snow that you later intend to dig, it might seem like a good idea at the time, but the resulting compacted stuff is twice as hard to shift!

On Friday I had a glimpse of a squirrel, but he was too far away to check if he had a full consignment of limbs. Hopefully he’ll come back.

As for my little robin friend, he hasn’t even been able to see his bath for the last fortnight, never mind bathe in it. Yesterday for the first time in 2 weeks it was visible and thawed.

At 4.10pm he arrived and had a really long splash about, despite the temperature. Normal service has been resumed.